Time Out

Soundbites: Time Out, Half TIme, BiteTorrent

Just ask Olympic figure skaters Stanislav Morozov and Tatiana Volosozhar of Ukraine. The dynamic duo finished ninth out of 20 in Sunday’s short program competition in Vancouver. And they would have finished even higher had Morozov, a relative giant by skating standards at 181 cm (that’s roughly 6-foot-1), been able to land his first jump. According to one of the broadcast announcers, he had yet to nail the triple toe loop with which the pair opened their routine in practice that week. This was mentioned with startling nonchalance, as if it were common sporting knowledge that Morozov can’t time his landings.

That’s right. Dude is an Olympic-caliber skater who is apparently well known in skating circles for, um, not being an Olympic-caliber skater. Amazing.

Even more amazing was what the Ukrainians were wearing: shiny, skin-tight, metallic-blue jumpsuits. It was like they were extras in a Turkish knockoff of Avatar. Even more amazing than that? How the TV announcers treated the Ukrainians and their admittedly bizarre — even for figure skating — outfits.

Now, before we go any further, I should note that I have never been a huge fan of figure skating. Though, as a fan of sports in general, I can certainly appreciate the athletic ability required to compete in the discipline at an elite level. But the sport’s forced theatric elements have always turned me off. Until now. And I have Canada to thank.

You see, when NBC — via local affiliate WPTZ, with whom Seven Days has a wonderful partnership … ahem — went to commercial during men’s moguls, Plus One and I flipped over to the Canadian broadcast on CTV, which was showing figure skating. [By the way, a totally underrated aspect of living near the Canadian border is having the option to watch Canadian coverage of the Olympics. And also Canadian melodramas such as “Little Mosque on the Prairie.” But I digress.]

Anyway, we tuned in just in time to watch the Ukrainians enter the rink and, more importantly, to witness the bewildered reaction from the Canadian announcers. It went something like this:

OK. I’m exaggerating. But only slightly. The next two minutes and 30 seconds were maybe the most entertaining in Olympic history, as the sportscasters tried to report the proceedings without either cracking up in hysterics or excoriating the Ukrainians for heinous crimes against skating, the Olympics and perhaps humanity itself. It ended with a practically apoplectic Canadian announcer outraged that anyone would dare denigrate the Olympics by wearing such scandalous attire — even if they really did just look like shinier speed-skating unis. You could feel a palpable sense of relief as the next team emerged onto the ice … wearing frilly body suits impossibly (but tastefully!) bedazzled with sparkles. Oh, Canada.

The point is, I’m now hooked on Olympic figure skating. But only on Canadian TV — I’ll watch everything else on WPTZ, I swear! And all because of a fortuitous fluke of timing. And also, certifiably insane announcers.

By now, you’re no doubt wondering how the hell this all relates to local music. Well, it doesn’t, really. But due to a series of unfortunate flukes (and flakes) we’re left with an usually large amount of real estate to fill this week. There were not one, not two, but three different interviews slated to appear in this spot at various points during the week, two-and-a-half of which fell apart at the last minute.

I mentioned that two-and-a-half of the three potential interviews for this week’s edition blew up in my face. The remaining one-half? A Q&A with drummer-cum-alt-country-savior Jason Boesel, who is playing with SoCal band Dawes at The Monkey House this Sunday.

I’ll be totally honest. Boesel was the backup plan. To my backup plan. In fact, the resulting Q&A was a backup to the backup backup plan. Confused yet? I am.

What follows is an interview conducted with Boesel via email, a tactic I promised myself I would never again employ following a disaster with Zack Galifianakis a couple of years ago. I’m so afraid of facing the bearded comic that I haven’t even seen The Hangover yet. It was that bad.

Anyway, literally within minutes of backup plan number one evaporating before my very eyes, I received an inquiry from Boesel’s publicist asking if I’d be interested in an interview. After some wheeling and dealing it was agreed upon and all seemed hunky-dory. Until he dropped the e-bomb: It would have to be an email interview.

Ugh.

With no other real alternatives left in play, I reluctantly agreed.

Now, were it almost any other artist — at least among those playing in Burlington this week — I probably would have declined anyway. But I think you’re really going to like Jason Boesel.

Prior to appearing in these pages, he was the drummer for such noted acts as Bright Eyes, Rilo Kiley, The Elected and, most recently, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band. Now he’s touring behind a lovely debut album, Hustler’s Son, which publications from Paste magazine to e-rags such as the Huffington Post and Daytrotter are touting as alt-country’s saving grace. Or, as Kansas City alt The Pitch put it, “For every Phil Collins and Don Henley, we occasionally get a Dave Grohl.”

Nice. Personally, I woulda gone with Levon Helm. But nice.

Anyway, the album really is terrific, and Sunday’s show should be a good one. So, without further ado, here’s Jason.

SEVEN DAYS: You’ve been an in-demand drummer for the last 15 years. Why switch gears now?

JASON BOESEL: Writing songs and making a record is something I wanted to do for a while, and this seemed like a good time to do it. “Seize the day”-type shit.

SD: Compare the satisfaction of writing a good song to coming up with a good drum part.

JB: Writing a good song is far more satisfying than writing a good drum part. I love the drums, but you can’t talk shit through a drum part.

SD: As a front man who has spent most of his career drumming, do you find yourself more conscious of the drum work behind you? Are you more critical of backing drummers? Less?

JB: I am not too aware, because remembering lyrics requires so much concentration. I hope to be critical of my drummer soon, though…

SD: Has working with Jenny Lewis and Conor Oberst influenced your approach to songwriting?

JB: Absolutely. Knowing them both so well and watching them work made writing great songs feel very real and possible.

SD: David Rawlings plays on the new record. There’s no question here. That’s just fucking awesome.

JB: I concur. He’s one of the most special guitar players on the planet, and such an awesome and weird dude. A real friend and inspiration.

SD: Describe the challenges of touring on your own, versus as part of more established acts like Bright Eyes or Rilo Kiley.

JB: Driving in a van and sleeping on the floor again [are] a bit of a challenge. It feels appropriate, though. My singer-songwriter persona has to pay his dues. My drummer side is at home sleeping on the Tempur-Pedic.

SD: Last question. What’s the best record you’ve heard in the last seven days?

JB: Probably the Aziz [Ansari] comedy record. I, for some reason, didn’t want to like it, but I totally did. Does that count? Also listened to Dr. Dre’s Chronic 2001 yesterday and couldn’t believe how good it was.

******

BiteTorrent

Perhaps you’re wondering who the other two potential interviewees were? I thought you’d never ask! The first was a young French ensemble called the Ebène String Quartet, who’ll be appearing at the UVM Recital Hall this Friday as part of the Lane Series. The group has taken the classical world by storm, drawing gushing praise around the globe. In fact, my mere mention of them here has classed up the 7D music section for at least three weeks. Maybe four. Seriously, for the ESQ to appear in Burlington is a serious coup for the Lane Series. Trust me.

The other failed option comes to us by way of MSR Presents and Matt Rogers, who has rescued the flickering indie torch left behind by late, great indie impresarios Tick Tick and held it aloft, guiding bands such as Edward Sharpeand theMagnetic Zeros, Grand Archives and Here We Go Magic to our darkened shores. This Monday, he welcomes Saratoga, N.Y.’s, Phantogram — who’ve recently been touring with the likes of Ra Ra Riot and Yeasayer — to The Monkey House for a show with Mississippi’s Junk Culture and local acts tooth ache. and DJ Disco Phantom. Rogers also had a hand in the Dawes/Boesel show. And in coming months he will bring us The Tallest Man on Earth, Ruby Suns and The Morning Benders, among others. I think I’m in love…

The flood of benefit concerts for Haiti relief has slowed somewhat recently. But the need is still great. So, this Friday, Montpeculiar’s Langdon Street Café gets in on the act with a showcase featuring Latin-jazz siren Miriam Bernardo, bluegrass superstar Gordon Stone and country heroes Mark LeGrand and His Lovesick Band — the last of whom have resumed their Honky Tonk Happy Hour duties every Friday, and will continue to do so through the end of May. Yee-haw.

Speaking of Haiti shows — and lately, when are we not? — Club Metronome reports it took in more than $1500 at last week’s benefit for Save the Children. Well done!

As reported last week,The Vacant Lots recently headed back into the studio to record their third album. According to their Twitter feed — raise your hand if you thought TVL would be one of the first local bands to actively use Twitter … anyone? — the new offering, Hypnotize, is done. Like, done done. The nine-song effort was recorded in two days, mixed in another and should be available for public consumption shortly. Ask TVL all about it when they play The Monkey House this Thursday with the Mohanty-Mallon Duet and Greg Davis.

That Boston’s Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade are playing in Vermont isn’t especially noteworthy. They’ve been trekking up 93 and 89 fairly regularly in the last few years. But they typically only make it as far as Langdon Street in Montpelier. This Saturday the heralded “vintage jazz” outfit makes its Nectar’s debut, headlining a show with Sara Grace and the Suits.

There’s a newish weekly jazz session Sunday afternoons at the Old Brick Tavern in Williston, headed up by longtime area musician and teacher George Voland. The valve trombonist plays with a rotating cast, but this week should be especially tasty, as he’ll be joined by guitarist Joe Capps, saxophonist Christopher Peterman and trumpet ace Ray Vega.

This Thursday, Lift hosts a benefit in memory of Michael “Waggy” Wagner, who died in an automobile accident on the beltline January 10. DJ Nastee mans the wheels of steel and all proceeds go to Camp Ta-Kum-Ta.

Speaking of Nastee, dude has another big True School session lined up, on Wednesday, February 24, at Nectar’s with my personal favorite name in hip-hop, The Problemaddicts, and ace North Carolina emcee Big Pooh.

Last but not least, if you missed The Fatal Flaws monthly Foofarawk show at Radio Bean a couple of weeks ago, stop by Manhattan Pizza this Saturday and check ’em out, if only because their show poster is so absurdly gross it’s almost brilliant. It’s definitely gross enough that I can’t reprint it here, though. They’ll be appearing with Nose Bleed Island and Lawrence Welks and Our Bear to Cross, the latter of whom I recently eviscerated via CD review in these pages. But don’t hold that against them. Experimental deconstruction goes really well with pizza and beer.

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